I am fully aware that OE, OAE and PE are not the same, however, if we take away these terms and focus solely on education concerning movement, meaning and new experiences, then the common practice we currently see in education may change (Quennerstedt, 2019 and Carse et al, 2020, p. 7-8). To elaborate, if OE, OAE and foundational subjects are not nationally tested, and we do not view physical education as ‘sport’ and/or ‘health, but as movement and education opportunities, and ask ourselves ‘why is this important to the children?’, then we can allow for agency between the children and teachers. Furthermore, when we consider meaning and education ‘in’ movement that can bring about lasting enjoyment and engagement beyond the school years (Penney and Jess, 2004), the outdoors can offer a lot to a child’s development and understanding of the world (Sommerville and Green, 2011). Quennerstedt (2019, p. 619) states that the art of teaching is ‘a continuous act of making professional judgements about the why(s), how(s) and what(s) of education’. In contrast, within primary schools, we predominantly see classroom-based lessons that are out of context or abstract, and in physical education, the movement experiences are frequently team sports that were selected and led by teachers (Kirk, 2010, Griggs, 2015 and Ives, 2018). These processes start with the what(s) of education, followed by the how(s) and finally, the why(s), as government policies and performativity culture dictate that specific targets be met.
Therefore, this OAE day has been planned to alter the pupils’ experiences, so that learning is NOT:
o Objective/test-driven
o Classroom-based
o Meticulously planned (inflexible)
o Based on extrinsic or alternative purposes
o Risk-averse.
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